Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE FIRST NIGHT, by JULES LAFORGUE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FIRST NIGHT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Night falls, soothing to lascivious old men
Last Line: Of those who will spend their first night there.
Subject(s): Death; Night; Dead, The; Bedtime


Night falls, soothing to lascivious old men
My cat, Murr, hunched like some heraldic sphinx,
Uneasily surveys, from his fantastic eyeball,
The gradual ascent of the chlorotic moon.

The hour of children's prayers, when whoring Paris
Hurls on to the pavement of every boulevard
Her cold-breasted girls, who wander with searching
Animal eyes under the pale street lights.

With my cat, Murr, I meditate at my window,
I think of the newborn everywhere;
I think of the dead who were buried today.

I imagine myself within the cemetery,
Entering the tombs, going in place
Of those who will spend their first night there.





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